Category — w. Most Recent Stuff

For the first page of this review of Disney’s Wilderness Lodge, click here.

DINING AT DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE

Disney’s Wilderness Lodge has two table service restaurants, one of my favorite hotel bars at Disney World, and depending on how you count them, two or two and a half quick-service offerings. The quick service options were either newly-offered or refurbed in 2017.

On the opposite side of the lobby from check-in is the table-service restaurant Whispering Canyon Cafe.

This is the more family-oriented of the Wilderness Lodge’s two table service restaurants, and a hoot for little kids.

The review from our book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2019:

Further down on this same left side is the bar the Territory Lounge–one of my two or three favorite bars at Walt Disney World (it’s darker and more romantic than my image implies).

Beyond it is the restaurant Artist Point. Formerly a spot best (and well-) suited to couples, it is transforming into a Snow White character meal. Co-author Josh has a review here, and below is the review from our book, The easy Guide to Your Walt Disney World Visit 2019:

The walkway on this side descends a ramp, and down it and around the corner you’ll find one of the Wilderness Lodge’s quick service locations, Roaring Fork, which can be very good, but can be overwhelmed at peak dining times.

Roaring Fork was redone in 2017, and now features a more extensive outdoor seating area.

Inside are two spaces–this eating area…

…and next to it the place where you order hot food and pick up grab and go food. There’s two ordering points, one at the entrance and one at the back.  If you see a cash register, you can order there.  Cast members will then bring your food to your table.

At first glance the menu is pretty limited–a brisket burger but no bacon cheeseburger?

But they will make much more than is listed on the menu. Want a bacon cheeseburger?  Just ask.

The new quick service dining venue is Geyser Point.

Located near Bay Lake conveniently between the two pools, it combines a very nice sheltered outdoor bar with its own menu …with a fairly classic walk-up food window with a different menu. Those at the bar can order from either menu.

Some images of the bar:

Some of what we ate from the bar menu–the Shrimp on a Wire (not pictured) and Chocolate Brownie Mousse were particular hits:

And some views of Bay Lake from Geyser Point:

The walk-up window is attached to the main bar building, a little closer to the Boulder Ridge Cove pool.

It has a refillable mug station.

It offers one breakfast menu and another lunch and dinner menu. Click the “meal period” button at the upper right of this for what’s on offer.

Geyser Point is a vast improvement over the former pool bar at the Wilderness Lodge. Offering both a delightful setting for a drink and both casual and slightly more formal alternatives to Roaring Fork, it represents a huge improvement in Wilderness Lodge amenities.

MATERIAL IN THIS REVIEW OF DISNEY’S WILDERNESS LODGE

• Overview and summary of DIsney’s Wilderness Lodge
• Theming and accommodations at the Wilderness Lodge
• A photo tour of a standard room at the Wilderness Lodge
• Amenities at the Wilderness Lodge
• The main Copper Creek Springs pool at the Wilderness Lodge
• The new Boulder Ridge Cove pool at the Wilderness Lodge
• Dining at the Wilderness Lodge

OTHER KEY PAGES FOR WHERE TO STAY AT DISNEY WORLD

• Where to stay–the Basics
• Where first-timers should stay
• Reviews of all the Disney World resorts, based on my 160+ stays in them

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My five-page 2016 Walt Disney World Cheat Sheet–an example page is above–includes a number of this site’s famous charts and graphs.

In total, the cheat sheet provides the key data you need for planning your 2016 first family visit to Walt Disney World.

Click here to open it as a PDF–it’s 1.64 MB, so might take a bit.

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Welcome back to Fridays with Jim Korkis! Jim, the dean of Disney historians and author of Jim’s Gems in The easy Guide, writes about Walt Disney World history every Friday on yourfirstvisit.net.

THE CANDY WIZARDS AT EPCOT

By Jim Korkis

In the days of the Qin Dynasty, nearly 2,400 years ago, the son of a poor Chinese scholar fell in love with a wealthy nobleman’s daughter.

His heart ached for the lovely maid but his head told him he could never marry without money to support an aristocratic bride. Remembering an old pastime his mother practiced, the young man began to toy with bits of rice-flour dough.

With his thoughts focused on his beloved, his hands fashioned ornate sculpture from the dough. Horses, unicorns and fanciful beasts sprang from the mixture.

Soon the youth was attracting crowds of onlookers fascinated by the beautiful wonders he created. In time, the young artist was able to earn his fortune and eventually the hand of the girl he loved.

This is the legend of Amezaiku, a candy art sculpture craft passed on orally from generation to generation through China and Japan. Currently, there are only fifteen people officially trained in the art, which is reminiscent of glass blowing.

Amezaiku, which translates as “sweet candy craft,” is only one of many endangered traditions. It is also sometimes referred to as “zinen houni” or “dream fantasy”.

A rice starch syrup is boiled until it becomes dough-like, malleable and transparent, looking very much like taffy. It is heated to roughly two hundred degrees over charcoal to make it that pliable. Next it is divided into small portions and kneaded and pulled into small balls. During this process, it takes on a pure-white color and often the artist would add a food color like pink, blue or green. The ball is placed on the end of small chopstick.

The artist must then work quickly to form the animal figures at the tip of a chopstick, using tiny candy scissors, tweezers and his fingers. The artist would also use a hand fan to occasionally cool and harden portions. Further decoration and detail is painted on the candy creature with edible dye food colorings.

Animals and insects are common shapes created by Amezaiku to delight younger children.

The Japan pavilion in World Showcase was home to two of the top Amezaiku artists working in the United States.

Masaji Terasawa, a native of Osaka, began working at Epcot in the 1980s. He began as a street performer in Japan and then moved to the Los Angeles area in the early 1970s. At Epcot, he would sometimes perform blindfolded or dance to taped music in slow rhythmic movements similar to traditional Tai Ji Quan.

He is considered a master of the art and trained Shinobu “Shan” Ichiyanagi for three years as his apprentice. Terasawa remains a much in-demand performer at schools, festivals, private parties and other events.

Terasawa said, “I like to show traditional Japanese art with humor and audience participation.”

Miyuki Sugimori first appeared at the pavilion in 1996 and continued working until her final show November 23, 2013. From Tokyo, Miyuki learned the craft starting in 1989 from her grandfather Mr. Kinura, who was a renowned candy artist.

She remains the first and only woman to receive training in Amezaiku in Japan. She has a daughter, Shido, and when asked by a guest if she plans on teaching her daughter this gift, she replied, “no, she cries because her hands hurt” (from the hot temperature).

The “stage” for these candy wizards was a simple cart located outside the front entrance of the Mitsukoshi department store. The cart was equipped with heating elements to keep the candy pliable and also had fans to cool down the finished hot pieces and set the design before it would be handed to guests who had gathered around to watch the performance.

While the artists often sculpted frogs, swans, alligators, tigers, elephants and more, many guests requested winged dragons and unicorns. The candy was edible but many guests tried to preserve the art in a clear plastic bag kept away from heat.

*  *  *  *  *

Thanks, Jim. Come back next Friday for even more from Jim Korkis!

In the meantime, check out his books, including Secret Stories of Walt Disney World: Things You Never You Never Knew, which reprints much material first written for this site, and The Vault of Walt: Volume 4, and his contributions to The easy Guide to Your First Walt Disney World Visit, all published by Theme Park Press.

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DISNEY WORLD NEXT WEEK: JANUARY 2 TO JANUARY 10, 2016

The material below details next week’s Disney World operating hours, Extra Magic Hours, parades, and fireworks.

The same stuff is in the graphic, but organized by park, not by topic. For more on January 2016 at Walt Disney World, click here.

Note that typos happen, and schedules change! If something seems odd, or if you want to double check, use the calendar links near the bottom to get the latest official Disney World scoop.

OPERATING HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 1/2-1/10/2016

The Magic Kingdom will be open 8a-1a 1/2, 9a-11p 1/3 and 1/4, 9a-9p 1/5 trhough 1/8, 9a-11p 1/9, and 9a-9p 1/10

Epcot will be open from 8a-9p 1/2, and 9a-9p 1/3 through 1/10

Disney’s Hollywood Studios will be open 8a-11p 1/2, 9a-11p 1/3, 9a-10p 1/4, 9a-8.30p 1/5 and 1/6, 9a-8p 1/7, 9a-9p 1/8, 9a-8.30p 1/9, and 9a-8p 1/10

Disney’s Animal Kingdom will be open 8a-8p 1/2; 9a-8p 1/3, 9a-6.30p 1/4 through 1/6, 9a-5.30p 1/7, 9a-6p 1/8, 9a-8p 1/9, and 9a-5.30p 1/10

EXTRA MAGIC HOURS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 1/2-1/10/2016

Saturday 1/2 Morning:  Magic Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 1/3 Morning:  none  Evening: Hollywood Studios

Monday 1/4 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Tuesday 1/5 Morning: none Evening:  Epcot

Wednesday 1/6 Morning:  none  Evening:  Magic Kingdom

Thursday 1/7 Morning: Epcot Evening: none

Friday 1/8 Morning:  Magic Kingdom Evening: Hollywood Studios

Saturday 1/9 Morning: Animal Kingdom  Evening: none

Sunday 1/10  Morning: Hollywood Studios Evening: none

PARADES AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 1/2-1/10/2016

The Magic Kingdom:

• Afternoon Festival of Fantasy Parade: 12 noon and 3.30p  1/2; 3p 1/3 through 1/10
• Evening Main Street Electrical Parade: 9.30 and 11.30p 1/2; 9 and 11p 1/3 and 1/4; 7 and 9p 1/5 through 1/8; 9 and 11p 1/9, and 7 and 9p 1/10

FIREWORKS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD 1/2-1/10/2016

Wishes at the Magic Kingdom: 8p 1/2; 10p 1/3 and 1/4; 8p 1/5 through 1/8; 10p 1/9, and 8p 1/10

IllumiNations at Epcot: 9p every night

Fantasmic at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 7 and 8.30p 1/2 through 1/4; 7 and 9p 1/5 and 1/6; 7p 1/7; 7 and 9p 1/8 and 1/9; 7p 1/10

Symphony in the Stars at Disney’s Hollywood Studios: 11p 1/2 and 1/3; 10p 1/4; 8p 1/5 through 1/10

SHOW SCHEDULES FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 1/2-1/10/2016

See Steve Soares’ site here. Click the park names at its top for show schedules.

LONG RANGE WEATHER FORECAST FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD 1/2-1/10/2016

See this for forecasts.

DISCLAIMER

Everything is subject to change and typos! Check the Disney Calendars for updates and official schedules. These calendars can be found by clicking the following links:

• Magic Kingdom Calendar
• Hollywood Studios Calendar
• Animal Kingdom Calendar
• Epcot Calendar

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Yesterday Disney World released a new discount for 2016.  Great news for those of you who booked your eligible vacations with Kelly B–she’s already saved you folk $2,509.49 by applying the new deal to your reservations!

Ummm, that’s in total, not for each of you…

Kelly is the dedicated team member for travel agent inquiries from the readers of this site.

One of the services she provides is to check existing reservations she is helping with when new discounts come out.  She can also sign you up with a new reservation into yesterday’s deals!

Want her to set up your Disney World trip?  Then contact her at 980-429-4499 or kellyb@destinationsinflorida.com.

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DISNEY WORLD ROOM RATE DEAL ANNOUNCED

Disney World announced this morning a room rate deal that extends into June 2016, with savings of 10% to 30%.

Other special offers are also available, and a good travel agent (like Kelly B, contact her at 980-429-4499 or kellyb@destinationsinflorida.com) can help you sort this out.

The room rate deal is available for stays between 3/15/16 – 6/11/16, and needs to be booked by 3/31/16.

Value Resort Savings (Little Mermaid Rooms at Art of Animation are excluded)

• For stays March 15, 2016 – April 13, 2016: 15% off, except 10% at All-Star Movies
• For stays April 14 to June 11, 2016: 20% off

Moderate Resort Savings: (Port Orleans French Quarter is excluded)

• For stays March 15, 2016 – April 13, 2016: 20% off
• For stays April 14 to June 11 2016: 30% off the Cabins at Fort Wilderness, 25% off the other  included moderates

Deluxe Resort Savings 

For travel 3/15 to 4/13/2016:

• 15% off at Beach Club, Contemporary, Grand Floridian and Animal Kingdom Savanna View
• 25% off of the rest

For travel 4/14 through 6/11/16:

• 20% off at Beach Club, Contemporary, and Animal Kingdom Savanna View
• 30% off of the rest

DVC Savings 

• Excluded: the Villas at the Grand Floridian, Bay Lake Tower, the Bungalows at Polynesian Bungalows & Villas

For travel 3/15 to 4/13/2016:

• 15% off: Beach Club Villas, the Villas at Wilderness Lodge,  and Animal Kingdom Jambo House Villas and Kidani Village villas
• 25% off: the rest

For travel 4/14 to 6/11/2016:

• 20% off: Beach Club Villas, the Villas at Wilderness Lodge,  and Animal Kingdom Jambo House Villas and Kidani Village villas
• 30% off: the rest

Recently it’s been at times hard for people to actually find rooms in these Disney World deals, so it’ll work best for those with flexible dates and flexible targeted resort hotels.

You can find reviews of all the Disney World room options here. (I’ve stayed in them all…)

BOOKING THE DISNEY WORLD ROOM RATE DEAL

As noted above, Kelly B can book this deal for you. Contact her at 980-429-4499 or kellyb@destinationsinflorida.com.

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